Vanessa Finaughty Weaves Wondrous Words into Magical Books

Thank God for the internet! This is how I came to meetVanessa Finaughtythrough her Facebook groupA Smashwords Book for Everyone.Although we never meet in person due to the fact that I live in the United States and she lives in South Africa, I respect her as a gifted author and wonderful woman.

Her book Legends of Origin 1 – Sanctuary for the Devil had me hooked on the first paragraph as I greedily devoured the pages. I’m hoping that someday she may continue the story in Book 4, pretty please, Vanessa. Her other books are also awesome because I have read the majority – no horror for Pamela the Wimp!

Without further ado, Vanessa interview:

When did you start writing and why?

I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, from when I was a young child. I write because the stories are there, in my head, and I want others to enjoy them as much as I do, and because I’m generally unable to ‘see’ the end of the story if I don’t start writing the first scenes. There’s also the fact that, if I’m not writing, I’m not truly content.

How do you get your ideas for your books?

Most of my stories start with a single scene that pops into my head and plays like a movie. If I start writing that scene, more of the story ‘appears like magic’ in my head and I write it. Sometimes I need to embellish and add explanations, and there are times I get stuck or have to ‘make it up as I go’, but the main story and the characters are usually ‘just there’. There are some stories, however, which were planned, and those ideas were based on things I had seen or heard – it could be anything, from a personal experience that was out of the ordinary, a comment someone made or something I heard in the news, to people’s attitudes toward certain things, problems the world is facing today and even conspiracy theories.

Why did you choose to become an indie author?

To say I’m impatient by nature is an understatement – when indie publishing, I don’t have to wait as long to publish the final edited book. Once everything is ready, you can publish, but, with traditional publishers, you are not their only author, which means that there can be a long wait between when your book is ready and when it is published, and it can also take a lot longer to get it ready in the first place. I’m also a bit of a control freak when it comes to my books; while I agree that one should always listen to (and usually take) the advice of professionals, I don’t like the idea of a stranger having final say in anything regarding my books – i.e. my babies! To me, that’s almost as bad as someone trying to dictate how I raise my child.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

Yes. At the moment, I’ve almost finished writing Wizard of Ends, Book 3: Mountains of Eclador. There are two more chapters to write, then my self-edits, and then off to my editor. Once that’s been sent to my editor, I plan to start writing Book 4 in the series. I’m also currently working on a big project for a local university, but I can’t say more about that yet due to the need for confidentiality at this stage of the project.